‘A Familiar Tide’ : How Alabama proved to be CFP worthy
Time for Alabama’s Nick Saban to admit the CFP Selection Committee got Final Four right
Do you want to know which of the two intensely contested College Football Playoff semifinal games will end up best? Perhaps the outcome will discourage Nick Saban, the coach of Alabama, and demonstrate that the CFP Selection Committee made the proper decisions. Perhaps. However, questionable. The last four teams chosen by the CFP Selection Committee have been publicly criticized by Saban. Days before their choices, he expressed his dissatisfaction. After his team defeated Auburn to end the regular season 10-2, head coach Nick Saban stated, “Hopefully, people (read: the committee) will recognize that we are a good football team.” In the hours before their choices, he expressed his dissatisfaction.
“I guess I would ask the question if we played these teams (read: Ohio State, TCU) in question, would we be underdogs in the games or not?” Saban said. “And that should answer everybody’s questions relative to who the best teams are at present. That’s how this should sort of play out.” He voiced his displeasure after the Crimson Tide beat Kansas State 45-20 in the Sugar Bowl. “I think we had a little bit of a taste in our mouth that if we had a dominant performance, it would show people that we probably did deserve to do a little better than we did in terms of the playoff picture.”
He expressed his belief that the CFP committee mishandled his program in every media interview that was made public. He adopted his plan straight out of the most current political propaganda manual. Give your followers ample time to believe the falsehood you’re telling them. Ignore the results, which made it quite evident that his side only lost twice whole season, compared to a total of two losses for the four teams chosen. After that, the semifinals of college football were played. Third-seeded TCU beat No. 2 Michigan 51-45, while fourth-seeded Ohio State closed the gap on No. 1 with a missed field goal.
Two excellent playoff games, defying history when past CFP semifinals usually resulted in blowouts. Had that occurred, it would have given Saban more ammunition for his Crimson Tide followers. The bottom line is the College Football Committee got it right this year. Alabama didn’t deserve a slot. Saban has done an incredible job since arriving in Tuscaloosa 2007, posting a 194-27 record, wining six national titles (including three through the current playoff format). With apologies to what Kirby Smart has built at Georgia, there’s not a better program in the country. If Saban steps onto his pulpit again this week, let’s hope he recognizes the two great semifinals and shows appreciation to the two finalists. This year, Saban and the Tide were not one of the top four teams
TCU and Georgia are the two teams that belong in the national title game on Jan. 9. They earned it.